ARS | Publication request: CAPTURE OF BEMISIA PARASITOIDS ON YELLOW STICKY TRAPS AND RATE OF PARASITISM

Submitted to: National Research and Action Plan for Silver Leaf Whitefly
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 19, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Recent research has shown that the use of yellow sticky traps is a convenient method to survey for the parasitoids of Bemisia argentifolii. However, no work had previously been conducted to examine the correlation of the sticky trap captures with actual percentage parasitism in the associated crop. A field study was conducted to determine how the capture of parasitism on sticky cards relates to actual percentage parasitism in cole crops. Plots were set up in fields on the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory farm in Charleston, South Carolina and on a commercial farm in Imperial County, California. The crop (broccoli) in California was organically grown, and the crop (collard) in South Carolina only received a treatment of Bacillus thuringiensis before the sampling began. Yellow sticky cards were placed within the fields on wire holders. The cards were 15 cm from the ground and placed horizontally to the ground surface. The traps were replaced weekly. Also, weekly samples of leaves were collected from the plots and held in the laboratory for whitefly and parasitoid emergence. Data were collected on the numbers of each species of B. argentifolii parasitoids captured on the sticky cards and from the leaf samples. In addition, the number of adult B. argentifolii captured on the sticky traps and emerged from the leaf samples were recorded. Samples are still being processed and data are still being collected.